𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆, tim bradford

𝟬𝟬𝟵. work ethic

╭── ✿ ❀ ღღ ✿ ❀ ──╮
009. work ethic
╰── ❀ ✿ ღღ ❀ ✿ ──╯

penelope stood next to officer wrigley as he wrote a ticket for a car that was parked against the curb. she'd been waiting for something to happen the whole day. the most exciting that that happened was seeing tim and  chasing the suspect on foot but both those things ended much too soon. "6PCI48... and a 1" wrigley droned on, reading the licence plate out loud.

"do you actually like this kind of policing?" penny asked, not meaning to sound rude but being genuinely curious.

"i like going home to my family, my kids like having a dad" he said as though correcting her, placing the ticket under the windscreen wiper of the car "your training officer got shot, and you still don't realize how close to dying you came"

"i think i do, i just don't want to let it effect how i do my job" she shrugged, facing the officer as he crossed his arms in slight defence.

"well i do let possible death effect me. but the fact is, you're still anxious to get back out there, which means deep down, a part of you liked it" officer wrigley spoke "that's not me, so i write the tickets, i take the low-risk calls so cops like you can get your thrill on"

penelope really didn't think she'd put her life on the line that much and on top of that, she never was a thrill seeker. the woman was well aware that her life was under threat from the time she clocked in to the time she went home but tim getting shot didn't make her feel as though she was in severe danger. on the other hand, she could just be ignoring it.

𐦍 ❀༄𖥸𓍊𓋼𓍊𖤓𓇢𓆸𖤓𓍊𓋼𓍊𖥸༄ ❀ 𐦍

penelope was practically skipping through the station on her way home. according to her knowledge on gunshot wounds, recovery times, and the stations regulations (which was extensive), she would have tim back as her T.O. the next day. as she went through the hall from the locker rooms, she saw tim having a conversation with officer wrigley.

as she got closer, she caught the end of their discussion. "-one ticket at a time" when the two men saw her approaching, wrigley went to leave "i'm not going to lie to you, officer valentine, it was not great working with you" he admitted before he left "in the last shift, you've chased a suspect on foot, filed a complaint about my 'work ethic', corrected me on-on so many things" he stressed "and didn't stop talking once, i don't think"

penny sent him a polite smile until he walked away. once he was out of earshot, she muttered "love you too, sir" as her smile dropped.

tim cleaned his throat, making penelope focus her attention back on him "i'm cleared for duty" he said "turned in my paperwork"

"good..." she nodded to herself, thinking before blurting out "why did you assign him to me? i mean, i know it was a test and i passed, that's easy. just, what exactly was the test?"

tim laughed at her brazen attitude, shocking penelope quite a bit. he looked down at her wide eyes, an almost prodigious look in his eyes "if you had been cool half-assing it with wrigley, then i'd know you weren't serious about becoming a good cop" he explained shortly.

"you're a pain in my ass, sir" penny smiled at tim.

"that's my job" tim smiled at penny.

𐦍 ❀༄𖥸𓍊𓋼𓍊𖤓𓇢𓆸𖤓𓍊𓋼𓍊𖥸༄ ❀ 𐦍

tim was laid across his sofa, watching an old football re-play when there was a knock at his door. with a frown, he got up to answer it. on the other side stood penelope, holding the leads of three dogs and a small woven bag. "what're you doing here?" he asked rather rudely, caught off guard.

"nice to see you too" she replied sarcastically "i needed to take the boys for a walk and their favourite park is two minutes from here so i thought i'd bring you back your tupperware" penny shrugged "kill two chores with one walk"

"right..." tim trailed off, only then noticing her small shivers. "do you want to come in?"

"oh no! i've got the dogs so it's fine" she brushed off the offer, knowing that she had to be home by a certain time.

"it's no problem, i'd tell you if it was"

"i'm sure you would" penny laughed, only then noticing tim's strange expression directed towards her dogs (all three of which were laid down, facing away from penelope and looking out for her as he back was turned) "what're you looking at?" she asked sarcastically.

"i was expecting them to be..." he tried to find the right word to describe his prior image of them "smaller"

"smaller?"

"and more... yappy?" he tested the word "like you" tim clarified with a nod.

penelope frowned. was yappy good? it couldn't be, right? whenever anyone had described her as yappy, talkative, chatty or anything else of the sort, it was definitely negative. "yappy?"

"it's a good thing" tim spoke so reassuringly, penny felt she couldn't do anything other than believe him.

"oh..." penny smiled to herself before extending the tubs towards tim "i've got to go but... i just wanted to say thank you for the whole making lunch thing. and i know you said it wasn't a big deal but it was a big deal to me, so... thank you"

"you're welcome"

the two officers just stared at each other, not sure what else to say. tim didn't want to let on how much her apology shook him and penny didn't want to admit to herself how thankful she really was. "well..." the shorter of the two broke the silence, not hating it any less than she did before "i'm gonna see you tomorrow"

"okay..." was all tim could think of saying. he still had nothing in mind until penelope had reached the end of his driveway "hey, doc!" he yelled down, making her spin around, startled "you're going to be a good cop!" he exclaimed, having been wanting to say it for a while but his pride standing in the way.

penelope didn't come off as someone who was confident in themselves. she was sure of her knowledge and she spoke with a confidence he'd never heard before but still, she was harsh on herself. tim could see doubt in herself every time she took initiative to do almost anything "a really good cop!" he repeated.

"so are you!" she smiled "one day!"

"you're ridiculous! you ruined it!" tim laughed, shaking his head at her answer.

"i know, i can't take compliments!" she admitted, walking further away, though slowly and still facing him.

"stop yelling, i have neighbours!" he continued, yelling his hypocritical response.

"you're yelling!"

"i'm allowed!-" tim got cut off by penelope using her fool proof tactic of winning arguments.

"-blah blah blah!-" she continued, despite tim's interjections.

"-would you stop!-"

"-blah blah blah!-"

"- you're so annoying!" his face broke into a smile, making penny stop her repetition.

"bye, officer bradford!" she waved goodbye before happily walking home with a huge grin, three dogs in tow.

———— authors note 💭

hey loves!!! i'm so sorry for the late update. i've got a load of comments lately and it stopped me from quitting the book and i went on a bit of a writing spree 😭😭

another chapter should be out sort of soon tho 💋

hope you liked it, comment and vote, love uuuu, byeeeee 🎀🌷💞